Early Chinese Civilizations Tara Madsen

The First Civilizations Like early civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indian subcontinent… the first civilization in China began along a river valley. This civilization began along the banks of the Huang He or the Yellow River, this left the soil very rich Chinese had to learn to build dikes to control the waters of the Yellow River They also had to learn to build irrigations ditches… every few years the floods of the Huang He were very destructive. The dikes could not hold back the water and the lands would be extremely flooded.

The First Dynasties: Xia and Shang The earliest Chinese dynasty was the Xia (shay) which began around 2200 BCE… it was a prehistoric civilization and not much is known about them Their economy was based on farming and at least some of them lived in cities… the Xia knew how to make bronze tools. The Shang dynasty was established around 1750 BCE… they were farmers and many of them lived in large, walled cities… they also knew how to make bronze

The Shang left their impact on future generations of Chinese in two important ways: they developed a system of writing and they began ancestor worship. The Shang believed that their deceased ancestors could help them throughout life’s challenging times. As a result, they began offering sacrifices to their ancestors. This form of worship continued for THOUSANDS of years.

The Zhou Dynasty and the Mandate of Heaven The Zhou (Joh) people rebelled against the Shang in 1045 BCE and set up their own dynasty in central China. To explain why they overthrew the Shang, the Zhou developed the principle: Mandate of Heaven… this basically said they were ordered to rule by the deities of heaven.

Importance of Family The family was the basic unit of Chinese society and the most important. Each member of the family had a duty and responsibility to every other member… this is known as filial piety and it governs the relationships among family members. Children HAD to obey their parents All of the family members were to obey the oldest male of the family… he was the head of the extended family

Quick Questions How is early Chinese civilization similar to early civilizations in other world regions? Why are the Xia and Shang Dynasties important? What was the Mandate of Heaven? What was the traditional Chinese Family like?

Chinese Philosophies By 100 AD, Buddhism had spread to China and many Chinese accepted it as their religion. China also followed the teachings of Confucius known as Confucianism. Confucius was a wandering scholar who lived from 551 to 479 BCE… his ideas never impressed the rulers but it did impress other Chinese people. Confucianism is based upon five relationships: *Parent/Child *Husband/Wife *Younger and Older siblings *Friend/Friend *Ruler/Subject The higher ranking person had a responsibility to the lesser person… and the lesser person had to give obedience to the higher person

Confucianism If a ruler failed in keeping his kingdom in order, heaven would allow his subjects to overthrow him… The rulers had to be of good moral character and be an example to his subjects During the Han Dynasty, the rulers set up a school to train men who wanted to do government jobs… they had to take and pass a civil service exam… this is how they chose public officials

Daoism and Legalism Between 500 and 200 BCE, Daoism and Legalism developed in China Daoism comes from the word “Dao” meaning the way… “the way to happiness was to live in harmony with nature” Legalism was very different from Confucianism and Daoism… Legalist believed that people were naturally bad and needed a strong ruler with harsh laws and punishments to keep them in line.

Quick Questions What are the Five Constant relationships? What was the lasting effect of Confucianism? How is Daoism different from Legalism?

The Rise and Fall of Dynasties The Zhou had seized power of a large part of China… however, by 1045 BCE warlords ruled states within the empire… by 400 BCE these warlords had weakened the Zhou rulers… From 400 to 200 BCE there was a period known as the Warring States Period… the Qin came in and were successful with pulling China together By 221 BCE the Qin controlled most of China… For the first time China had a centralized government (QIN=CHIN…A) They established an army to protect China and a system of roads was built… eventually they built the Great Wall to keep invaders out.

Next Dynasties… The next dynasty after the Qin were the Han… The Han dynasty lasted over 400 years and China prospered…. The Han also developed civil service exams. The Han adopted Confucianism and the five relationships helped keep peace in China… The population of China tripled under the Han At the end of the dynasty’s ruling days there was a lot of turmoil and invasions… after their fall there was 400 years of civil wars and invasions

Silk Road Beginning around 200 BCE China became part of the international trade network known as the Silk Road. This was 400 miles of harsh terrain that extended into Mesopotamia… It was named the Silk Road because of China’s production of Silk They traded spices tea and porcelain. They also traded Ivory, cotton, pepper and gems. Roman Merchants sent woolen and linen cloth as well as glass to the east. This was a very vital part of the introduction of global trading among all civilizations in the ancient world.

Quick Questions Why was Qin Shi-Huangdi hated? What were the long-term effects of the Han Dynasty?